ktvu's debora villalon is in oakland after taking the temperatures on both sides. >> reporter: for 23 days the trains have run, the riders happy, if not completely confident. >> we have not wasted the time. we have had made progress bart a its two major unions have failed to make a deal. >> because the main negotiator isn't there, we're talking about secondary type issues, smaller issues, not the big- ticket items. >> reporter: bart's lead negotiator tom hoch has been on vacation, and workers mock him by wearing hawaiian shirts and the buses that bart hired to shuttle passengers during the strike were from his company. >> in thomas hoch's company stands to earn a penny off of running a shuttle service during a strike, that is enough to disqualify him. >> reporter: to which bart says? >> if an attempt to take the focus off the fact that we need to be talking about pensions, benefits, and salaries. >> reporter: the big issues that put bart workers on the picket line the first four days of july. talks have inched forward on smaller, supplemental issues, but have been empty of progress on